Senator introduces bill to study violent games

[FAST6191]

Children shouldn't even be playing mature games at all.

I am usually one to come down on the "pah censorship" side of things and do not have a great deal more to say on the matter, however I will ponder what makes a mature game and how do I reconcile that with the vast differences between what ranks as a mature game, TV show, film, book....... (thoughts being that games are subject to far harsher rating systems).

 

[chartube12]

Parents are to blame at least half the time of violent children. Passing the blame to others is a long sad practice of today's parents and teachers. I can say teachers. My GF is one and they are taught when getting their degrees (she has her's already) to keep children under 12 away from super heroes. They are taught super heroes such as batman and superman make preteen kids grow up into serial killers. IMHO it's complete bull shit and is funded by parents who like to pass the blame onto others/other things.
This bill is going to be another passing the blame on thing. Sad sad country we live in.

 

[Sheimi]

What happened to the ESRB rating system? Are parents too dumb to know what the rating of each game means? The only rated "M" game I ever bought was Fallout: New Vegas for my brother.

 

[chartube12]

Nice to know politicians are focusing on what's important and top priority....

Violent video games are really no different than movies or even comic books in a sense. They take your mind to a fictional world, intended for entertainment purposes only. I think the current rating system is fine and serves it's goal well, the only problem that exists would be those who buy m rated games and give them to those below the age.

some children are more mature then others. It is up to the child's parents to think responsibly and decide if a child is ready for a game. Each game and child should be judged ready or not on a game by case bases. Some games a child may be ready for while others he/she isn't. Ratings and contain labels are made to help in the deciding process. Needless to say some parents are better at making right choices then others.

 

[KingVamp]

Hearing this excuse over and over again is really tiresome. Rather than blaming the person who did it or how he was able to do it.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I'm pretty sure the people behind this report reached one conclusion:

"IT'S LU BU!!!!!"

Yeah lame Dynasty Warriors joke.

 

[blahkamehameha]

some children are more mature then others. It is up to the child's parents to think responsibly and decide if a child is ready for a game. Each game and child should be judged ready or not on a game by case bases. Some games a child may be ready for while others he/she isn't. Ratings and contain labels are made to help in the deciding process. Needless to say some parents are better at making right choices then others.

This I agree with. Same goes for r-rated movies and everything else; I just don't want video game creators to be limited in what they can create owing to certain people's irresponsibility in buying m rated video games for people who have no business playing them.

Not a fan of politicians trying to take advantage of the horrible shooting tragedy in this manner.

 

[FAST6191]

This I agree with. Same goes for r-rated movies and everything else; I just don't want video game creators to be limited in what they can create owing to certain people's irresponsibility in buying m rated video games for people who have no business playing them.

The question of what merits what rating still arises though and given you are extremely unlikely to ever come to a consensus on the matter......

 

[ComeTurismO]

I am usually one to come down on the "pah censorship" side of things and do not have a great deal more to say on the matter, however I will ponder what makes a mature game and how do I reconcile that with the vast differences between what ranks as a mature game, TV show, film, book....... (thoughts being that games are subject to far harsher rating systems).

Sorry I didn't understand......?

 

[loco365]

I see more M games being made and advertised these days compared to any other ratings for games. In every single WalMart (and most of the GameStops) I have been to, I see far more M games than any other rating. I have also seen far more parents and grandparents buying these games for their kids/grandkids compared to any other games, without knowing what the rating system means.

I am not blaming violent video games for violence in children, I am just pointing out what I have observed.

I see pretty much the same thing. An old friend of mine had his parents buying him M-rated games since he was 8. I only bought my first M-rated game (And only, at that) when I was actually 17 (Even though my mom HATES these kinds of games). A lot of these games are far too accessible and are far to easy for underaged people to buy. I don't think there needs to be a study into the games themselves, there needs to be a study into how accessible these games are to the general public.

Case in point: When I bought MadWorld, I wasn't asked for ID. And I just turned 17 when I got it. For all the cashier knew, I could have still been 16, or maybe even 15. I've been able to have people think I was 18.

 

[chyyran]

I'm actually all for this, they won't find any evidence that correlates more violent games to actual real life violence, unless you'll be studying lunatics. However, it'll just be a waste of time. It's already been proven that violent video games don't cause violence in people. Unless you're already batshit crazy.

 

[FAST6191]

I am usually one to come down on the "pah censorship" side of things and do not have a great deal more to say on the matter, however I will ponder what makes a mature game and how do I reconcile that with the vast differences between what ranks as a mature game, TV show, film, book....... (thoughts being that games are subject to far harsher rating systems).

Sorry I didn't understand......?

Might as well use the American rating systems and things there as a point of reference for the time being- content that makes the various ratings seems rather different to that which makes various ratings in TV, films and books- sex would be the most obvious example but drugs have also come into play and various aspects of what sort of violence can happen (doubly so in cases where real world events might be somehow depicted- see all the whinging whenever something would dain to cover one of the recent US wars where TV and films have no such problems).
Going further I have to wonder what types of actions warrant censorship and there are wide variations between locations there.

 

[ComeTurismO]

Might as well use the American rating systems and things there as a point of reference for the time being- content that makes the various ratings seems rather different to that which makes various ratings in TV, films and books- sex would be the most obvious example but drugs have also come into play and various aspects of what sort of violence can happen (doubly so in cases where real world events might be somehow depicted- see all the whinging whenever something would dain to cover one of the recent US wars where TV and films have no such problems).
Going further I have to wonder what types of actions warrant censorship and there are wide variations between locations there.

Exactly.. I understood now. Kind of not from what you're saying, but when Children watch too much TV, they see shows and etc that have violence. It may not be the parents, but it can be people that make commercials and publish it on children's TV shows. I mean, I was watching Spongebob with my 2 year old nephew the other day, and they had the commercial for Black Ops 2.

 

[FAST6191]

It might be a useful thought exercise for you to go through a handful of cartoons and count the numbers of violent acts if you are going to be pulled up on that first time you use it in a proper debate.

What I was heading more towards was that in many ways games are held to a higher standard as it were and what may end up as a fairly restricted game may well be prime time TV in other cases (even American prime time TV) and then how would I reconcile that in my head. For examples consider some of the storm in various teacups over the likes of GTA and mass effect (and other Bioware stuff) for various types of sexual content where nothing there is something that would really be noticed outside the censor everything crowd.

 

[Deleted_171835]

I was playing Grand Theft Auto yesterday and now I want to shoot some hookers.

 

[dickfour]

Does anyone think they'll get away with just scapegoating lawful gun owners? It's actually more legitimate to go after movies and video game if you want to target reasons why this massacre happened Maybe it's about time the libs that always want to go after guns get something they like taken away from them.

 

[Chary]

People place blame far too easily. You wanna hear something ridiculous?

There was a debate between idiot parents and the company that now distributes Looney Toons cartoons. The soccer moms cried out that those cartoons were far too violent, and ended up heavily restricting the airing of old Looney Toons on cable TV.

It's all a matter of blaming things on others.

 

[FAST6191]

I was playing Grand Theft Auto yesterday and now I want to shoot some hookers.

Could be worse- you could have been playing Grand Theft Auto yesterday and now want to shoot up with some hookers.

 

[DSGamer64]

I am usually one to come down on the "pah censorship" side of things and do not have a great deal more to say on the matter, however I will ponder what makes a mature game and how do I reconcile that with the vast differences between what ranks as a mature game, TV show, film, book....... (thoughts being that games are subject to far harsher rating systems).

Visual content is easier to absorb and believe then written content. Kind of why books generally are not restricted to a certain age of reader requirement. Yes, there are books with mature themes, heck a lot of fantasy has nudity, sex and violence, but it's not frowned upon by society because it's only a descriptive form of media.

I am in agreement that young people should not be allowed to play mature rated games by any means, however I think part of the difference between the more modern generation of young gamer's and those my age who grew up gaming in the 80's and early 90's, weren't desensitized to violence the way some gamer's are today due to the level of realism in games today. Games are not to be blamed for the violent crimes our world is facing however, but it is important to note that it doesn't hurt to do psychological assessments on young people who are exposed to violent games at a very young age. Still, it seems like there is a vendetta among some folks in America to find something else to blame other then the gun, for the shooting at the school in Connecticut.

I see 8 year old's getting their parents to buy them Call of Duty and crap like that which is violent. You know what the most violent game I played was when I was 8? Mortal Kombat 3, which is amateur in terms of violence today, but was considered over the top back then. Part of the blame is that the ESRB rating system hasn't adjusted itself to the increased realism of video games, especially in violent titles. What was considered a Mature rated title when I was young is now easily a Teen rated game just because those games don't have the realism, but the realism is what should be making the ESRB change game rating standards so that some of these exceptionally realistic and violent games are not getting in the hands of young people.

 

[Deleted-236924]

Sounds like somebody doesn't know that correlation doesn't imply causation.